Printing frame



Nov. 11, 1958 E. ROBINSON 2,859,661

, PRINTING FRAME Filed March 4. 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 f r 7 26: 3 INVENI'OK 1 ELL/S Roam/so 24 l2 l9 2/ BY ATTORNEYS E. ROBINSON PRINTING FRAME! Nov. 11, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 4, 1958 WWW- I N VEN TOR Ros/-50 w u E MAM? ATTORNEYS United States Patent PRINTING FRAME Ellis Robinson, Hampton, Va. Application March 4, 1958, Serial No. 719,058

Claims. (Cl. 88-24) The present invention relates to printing frames and more particularly to a printing frame for sequentially and successively presenting to a printing position distinct areas of a printing medium arranged in rows and columns.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a printing frame for effecting projection printing upon distinct areas of a sensitive medium arranged in rows and columns which printing frame is inexpensive, utilizes a relatively few number of parts and may be rapidly and easily assembled by unskilled workers.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a printing frame for projection printing upon successive areas of a printing medium arranged in rows and columns which may be as easily operated by a left-handed operator as by a right-handed operator.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a printing frame for projection printing of distinct pictures upon successive areas of a printing medium arranged in rows and columns which mechanism employs distinct and centrally located controls for controlling the position of the printing medium in two coordinate directions.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a printing frame for printing successive areas of a printing mechanism arranged in rows and columns and utilizing a main carriage controlling the movement of the printing medium relative to a printing window in one direction of movement and utilizing a secondary carriage slidably mounted on the first carrier for positioning the medium with respect to the printing window in a second direction movement perpendicular to the first direction of movement, the movement of each of the carriages being controlled by independently-operable, and centrally-located, elements which are equally accessible to both hands of the user.

The above and still further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description of one specific embodiment thereof, especially when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the front and top of the printing frame of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a top view of the printing mechanism of the present invention with the top of the light top box removed;

Figure 3 is a side view in elevation of the apparatus with the top and end walls of the light top box removed;

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a bottom view of one of the carriage assemblies of the present invention; and

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 66 of Figure 1.

Referring specifically to Figures 1 and 2 of the-present invention, the apparatus comprises a light-tight box generally designated by the reference numeral 1 having front and back walls 2 and 3, respectively, and left and right side walls 4 and 6, all as viewed in Figures 1 and 2. The light-tight box further comprises a bottom wall 7 and a top wall 8 which is hinged to the back wall 3 of the box 1. The top wall 8 is provided adjacent its front edge with an elongated slot 9 through which extends an inverted U-shaped handle 11 secured to a main carriage 12 disposed within the box, and a main carriage operating member generally designated by the reference numeral 13 disposed between the downwardly depending legs of the handle 11. As will be explained more fully as the description proceeds, the carriage 12 is mounted for movement parallel to the front and back walls 2 and 3 of the box 1 and the slot 9 in the top wall 8 of the box must be of sufiicient length to permit complete movement of the handle 11 without interference.

The top wall 8 is further provided with a printing window 14 through which light is adapted to be projected in order to sensitize a printing medium secured to a secondary carriage 15 slidably mounted on the carriage 12 for movement parallel to the side walls 4 and 6 of the box 1. The printing window 14 is adapted to be closed by a slide 16 mounted for reciprocation parallel to the walls 2 and 3 of the box 1 to an extent necessary to be completely withdrawn from or to completely cover the printing window 14. The movement of the slide 16 is controlled by a handle 17 extending upwardly through an elongated slot 18 in the top 8 of the box 1. The slide 16 is reciprocatably secured to the bottom of the top wall 8 by means of generally Z-shaped members 10 disposed along opposite sides of the slide as illustrated in Figure 6 of the accompanying drawings. The slide 16 is normally painted white and not only serves to prevent light from striking the printing medium disposed below the window 14 when such is not desired, but further being positioned very close, in the direction of the light, to the printing medium may be employed to initially focus the picture intended to be projected through the window 14 so that when the slide is removed, the picture striking the printing medium is in focus.

Referring now more particularly to Figure 2 the main carriage 12 is mounted on a pair of tracks 19 and 21 disposed parallel to the walls 2 and 3 and extending substantially the entire distance between the side walls 4 and 6. Vertical movement of the carriage 12 and reference is now made to Figure 3 of the accompanying drawings is prevented by a pair of shoulders 22 and 23 that extend outwardly from the walls 2 and 3 over the front and rear edges of the carriage 12. The tracks 19 and 21 and the shoulders 22 and 23 may be suitably secured to the various members of the box 1 as by screwing or gluing or by both methods. The main carriage .12 is provided with a pair of rectangular grooves 24 and 26 extending parallel to the front and rear walls 2 and 3 and spaced apart by the same distance of the spacing between the tracks 19 and 21. The tracks 19 and 21 are disposed in the grooves 24 and 26 in the lower surface of the main carriage 12 and therefore guide the movement of the carriage parallel to the walls 2 and 3. The carriage 12 may be readily removed from the box 1 by merely removing one of the side walls 4 or 6 and sliding the carriage oh? the ends of the tracks 19 and 21.

Supported on the main carriage 12 are a pair of tracks 27 and 28 which extend parallel to the side walls 4 and 6 of the light-tight box 1. The carriage 15 is provided with a pair of grooves 29 and 31 extending parallel to and having a spacing therebetween equal to the spacing b'e- 3 tween the tracks 27 and 28. In consequence the secondary carriage 15 is adapted to be supported by the tracks 27 and 28 and guided thereby for movement parallel to the side walls 4 and 6. The tracks 27 and 28 are provided with head portions 32 and 33 extending outwardly toward the side walls 4 and 6, respectively, and the carriage 15 is provided with a metal plate 34 which extends parallel to the rectangular groove 29 and has a portion extending below'the head portion 32 of the track 27. Similarly, a metal plate 36 extends parallel to the groove 31 and is disposed below the head portion 53 of the track 28. The metal plates 34 and 36 serve to retain the carriage 15 on the tracks 27 and 28 by preventing the secondary carriage from being lifted vertically from the tracks. The forward edge of the carriage 15 adjacent the wall 2 is provided with a recess 37 disposed in the region of the handle 11 and permits the carriage 15 to be moved frontwardly to an extent necessary to bring it in substantial abutment with the shoulder 22 secured to the front wall 2 of the box 1. The carriage 15 is provided on its upper surface with two relatively wide rectangular grooves 38 and.39 disposedadjacent and parallel to the ends of the carriage 15. Disposed in the rectangular groove 38 are generally rectangular paper-holder supports 41 and 42 adjustably secured in the groove 38 by means of screws 43 and 44 disposed in slots 46 and 47, respectively, elongated parallel to the groove 38. The support 41 is provided with an L-shaped paper-holder 48 and the support 42 is provided with an L-shaped paper-holder 49.

The printing medium or paper which is generally designated by the dashed-line box 51 extends across the carriage 15 parallel to the walls 2 and 3 of the box 1 and is disposed under the edges of the holders 48 and 49. As a result of the arrangement of screws 43 and 46 and slots 44 and 47, the supports 41 and 42 may be adjusted to accept printing paper of varying widths. The base legs of the L-shaped members 48 and 49 serve to position the printing medium endwise whereas the normally vertical legs of the L-shaped members serve to position it sideways. The rectangular groove 39 in the secondary carrier 15 is also provided with printing paper supports 52 and 53 which are mounted for movement longitudinally of the groove 39. The supports 52 and 53 are provided with straight printing paper holders 54- and 56, respectively, which serve to support and flatten the paper under the inwardly directed edges thereof.

The mechanisms for positioning the carriages 12 and 15 are now described and initially the apparatus for controlling the position of the main carriage 12 is considered in conjunction with the apparatus illustrated in Figure 4 of the accompanying drawings. Referring specifically to Figure 4 the handle 11 is secured to the upper surface of the carriage 12 by means of screws 57 which pass through the slide 12 and into the bottom of the legs of the inverted U-shaped member. The heads of the screws are flush with the upper surface of the groove 24 of the carriage 12.

The position controlling mechanism generally designated by the reference numeral 13, comprises a crossmember 58 disposed parallel to and under the base of the inverted U-shaped member 11 and is adapted to be engaged by the fingers to be pulled upwardly whenit is desired to move the carriage 12. The cross-member 58 is supported on two vertically-extending metallic pins 59, the same reference numeral being applied to the two vertically-extending mechanisms of the slide-control mechanism 13 since they are identical. The pins 59 are threaded at their upper ends to receive both the cross member- 58and a pair of nuts 61 which are disposed above and contact the upper surface of the slide'58 and provide a double. nut locking arrangementfor securing the cross member 58 .to-.the pins 59. The. pins 59-extend; downwardly and are disposedwithin the ;vertical ;bore,of:.

4 a tube 62. The lower end of the tube 62 has an externally threaded portion 63 of reduced outer diameter which extends through a vertical aperture 64 in the carriage 12. A first nut 66 is disposed about the reduced portion 63 of the tube 62, above and in contact with the upper surface of the carriage 12, and a further nut 67 engages the lower end of the portion 63 and is disposed below the carriage 12 in a circular recess 68 so that the lower surface of the nut 67 is flush with the top of the groove 24.

The vertical pin 59 is biased into a downward position, with its lowermost end 69 projecting into the channel 24, by means of a spring having its upper end contacting a cap 71 threaded onto the upper end of 'the tube 62 about the pin 59 and havingits lower end contacting an outwardly extending circumferential flange 72 adjacent the lower end of the pin 59; The bottom surface of the flange 72 is adapted to' contactan inwardly directed shoulder 73- of the tube 62 disposed intermediate the ends of the portion 63 of the tube. Thus, normally both of the pins 59 are biased downwardly into the groove 24 and are adapted to extend into suitably positioned apertures .74 in the track 19. For each position of the main carriage 12 there must be two such apertures 74 in the track l9vto accept the lower end of both of the pins 59. The number of pairs of such apertures 74 is determined by the number of various positions the carriage 12 is to assume and the spacing between the various pairs of holes must be such. that adjacent but non-overlapping areas of the photographic paper 51 are exposed upon placing the slide 12in its successive positions.

It will be noted that the handle 11 serves not only as a handle for carrying the printing mechanism but also serves as a support for the hand when it is desired to raise the bar 58 so as to disengage the pins 59 from the apertures 74. If it were not for the handle 59, it would be necessary for one to hold down on the top 8 of the frame 1 and pull up on the member 58 at the sametime. The member 11 on the other hand allows one to merely squeeze the cross bar 58 in order to wthdraw the pins- 59 from the'apertures 74 in the tracks 19. Also, since the frame member 11 and the cross member 58 extend through the slot 9 in the top 8 of the printing frame 1 transverse positioning of the carriage 12 may be effected with the top of'the frame closed. In consequence, an entire column of pictures may be printed on the medium 51 without having to open the top of the light-tight box 1.

The mechanism for positioning the secondary carriage 15 is illustrated in Figures 2 and 5 and reference is now had to these figures. Referring initially to Figure 5, there is provided on the bottom surface of the secondary carriage 15, a pair of opposed but identical slide mem bers 76' and 77. Corresponding elements on the slide members 76 and 77 will bear the same reference nu-v merals, since all elements associated with the two slides are identical. The slide 77 has a center axis directed perpendicular to the groove 29 formed in the bottom surface of the secondary carriage 15 and has a pin shaped portion 78 extending outwardly into the region of but below the groove 29.

The pin 78 passes under a guide member 79 suitably secured to the undersurface of the secondary carriage 15 but having a bore which permits reciprocating motion of the pin 78 perpendicular to the groove 29. Disposed above both of the slides 76 and 77 is a metal plate-81' itsrighthandredge, asuviewed. in Figure 5, with t'wo' downwardly deending tabs 87 and 88 through which pass two rivet 89 and 91, respectively that extend through correspnding tabs 87 and 88 in the slide 77. Compression stings 92 and 93 are disposed about the portions of therivets 89 and 91, respectively, subsisting between the tas '87 and 88 on the slides 76 and 77. The springs 9j-and 93 bias the slides 76 and 77 away from one anoter and into a position with the pin portion 78 extendng into the grooves 29 and 31.

In order to withdraw the pins of the slides 76 and 77 from the grades 29 and 31, there are provided finger engageable pnjections 94 and 96 extending upwardly from the slide 76 and 77 from between the tabs 87 and 88, the projetions 94 extending through apertures 97 and 98 in th slide 15. The projections 94 may be pressed togetler in order to move the slides 76 and 77 toward one mother and to withdraw their pin portions 78 from the ,rooves 29 and 31. The pins of the slides 76 and 77 an adapted to extend into apertures in the tracks 27 anl 28, the apertures being suitably spaced such that ir the specific embodiment illustrated, the carriage 15 nay assume two positions with respect to the tracks in which non-overlapping transverse portions of the sensitie medium 51 are disposed below the window 14 in the to; wall 8 of the mechanism.

In practict, it may be desirable to control the spacing between thepictures between the columns as defined by movement of the carriage 12 and between the rows as defined by movement of the carriage 15. With respect to varying the spacing between the pictures in a column, the track 19 may be provided with sets of apertures on both its upper and lower surfaces so that when it is desired to change the spacing between the pictures, the entire carriage mechanism is removed from the box by removing the wall 6 and merely sliding the carriage off of the tracks 19 and 21 and thereafter changing the side of the track 19 which is facing upwardly. Not only may it be desired to vary the spacing between the pictures in a column, but it may be desirable to vary the size of the picture, and to maintain the spacing between pictures regardless of size. The size of the picture is alterable by controlling the size of the window 14 with the slide 16, that is, the slide 16 may assume various positions between its fully opened and its fully closed positions. The new spacing can readily be accomplished by providing the various surfaces of the track 19 with a plurality of holes and/or providing the two surfaces of the track 21 with apertures as illustrated by the reference numeral 99, and interchanging the tracks. Of course, the tracks 19 and 21 may be square so that each track may have four sets of holes.

In order to change the spacing between the pictures in a row as determined by the movement of the carriage 15, two sets of holes are provided on each of the tracks 27 and 28 and the position of the tracks is reversed in order to obtain the change in spacing. Specifically and reference in now made to Figure 2 of the accompanying drawing, a first set of apertures in the sides of the track 28 is illustrated by the dashed lines 101 and 102 and in order to print one column of the pictures, the pins of the slides 76 and 77 are disposed in the grooves 101 and in order to print the second column of the pictures, the pins of the slides 76 and 77 are disposed in the grooves 102. The slides 27 and 28 are provided with a second set of apertures illustrated in respect to the track 28 and these are designated by the numerals 103 and 104. It is readily apparent that the spacing between the apertures 103 and 104 in the slide 28 is different from the spacing between the apertures 101 and 102. The apertures 103 and 104 are not accessible to the pins 78 with the tracks 27 and 28 in the positions illustrated in Figure 2 and therefore, if it is desired to utilize the spacing provided by the apertures 103 and 104, the position of the tracks 27 and 28 are interchanged such that the aperture 103 is adjacent the wall 3 of the frame and is adapted to be disposed in the rectangular groove 29 in the secondary carriage 15.

It is readily apparent that the apparatus of the present invention provides a frame for printing a number of picture elements arranged in rows and columns on a photographic medium, and that the mechanism comprises a relatively few number of readily fabricated members which may be quickly and easily assembled. Further, the location of the various controls is such that the carriages 12 and 15 may readily be manipulated by either the left or right hand and therefore the apparatus does not favor the right-handed person or the left-handed person. Also, the apparatus is adjustable to receive various size photographic medium, within reason, and the size of and the spacing between the various picture elements may be readily varied.

While I have described and illustrated one specific embodiment of my invention, it will be clear that variations of the details of construction which are specifically illustrated and described may be resorted to without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. A printing frame comprising a substantially lighttight box having side walls, a bottom wall and a top wall hinged to one of said side walls, a first pair of tracks secured to said bottom wall and extending parallel to a first pair of side walls, a first carriage supported for reciprocating movement along said tracks, said first carriage having an upper surface, a second pair of tracks secured to the upper surface of said first carriage and disposed generally perpendicular to said first pair of tracks, a second carriage having a bottom surface and a top surface and supported above said first carriage for reciprocating motion on said second pair of tracks, a handle secured to said first carriage and extending through an elongated slot in said top wall, said handle having a first cross member disposed above said top wall and supported between a pair of legs extending upwardly from said first carriage, a pair of vertically reciprocatable pins normally extending from a location above said top Wall and below said cross member downwardly through said elongated slot and through said first carriage into one pair of a plurality of pairs of apertures in one of said first pair of tracks, said pins being disposed between said legs of said handle, a pair of springs disposed about said pins and urging said pins into said normal position, a second cross member disposed below said first cross member and between said legs of said handle and interconnecting said pins, at least one stud reciprocatably secured to said bottom surface of said second carriage for movement into and out of apertures in at least one of said second pair of tracks, at least one spring engaging said stud for urging said stud into the apertures and means extending through the upper surface of said second carriage for withdrawing said stud from the apertures in said at least one of said second pair of tracks.

2. The combination in accordance with claim 1, further comprising a second stud reciprocatably secured to said bottom surface of said carriage for movement into and out of apertures in the other of said second pair of tracks, said studs being secured to the ends of two opposed slides, said spring being a compression spring being disposed between and contacting said slides, and said means comprising a pair of finger engageable projections each secured to a different one of said slides and extending through at least one aperture in said second carriage.

3. The combination according to claim 1, further comprising a pair of tubes extending through apertures in and secured to said first carriage, each of said pins being reciprocatably disposed in a different one of said tubes.

4. The combination according to claim 1, further comprising a reciprccatable slide secured to said top wall and close to said second carriage, said slide being reciprocatablebetween a printing WindoWcIosing and a printing window opening position and all intermediate positions therebetween.

5. The'combination according to claim 4, wherein at least said one of said first pair of tracks is provided With a'plurality of pairs of apertures on different sides, with thetspacing between the pairs of apertures on the dif- -ferent sides being different.

Referencesfited in the file i t nt UNITED STATES Pa Koppe May 30, 1922 LoWen F b, 4, 1930 Mourfield Aug .5, 1952 Nitz Sept; 27, 1955 Greenspan Feb, 18, 1958 

